Many functions of modern devices in automotive, consumer and industrial applications, such as converting electrical energy and driving an electric motor or an electric machine, rely on power semiconductor devices.
For example, Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs), Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) and diodes, to name a few, have been used for various applications including, but not limited to switches in power supplies and power converters.
After a power semiconductor die has been manufactured, it has to be included within a package, e.g., in a manner that allows the die to be installed within an application, e.g., in a power converter, e.g., such that the die may be coupled to a support, e.g., a printed circuit board (PCB).
To this end, a technology commonly referred to as surface-mount technology (SMT) is known, wherein this notion may generally refer to producing electronic circuits in which the components are mounted or placed directly onto the surface of PCBs. For example, the PCB may include a copper layer that may allow for attaching components to the PCB by means of soldering.
A certain group of PCBs is called Insulated Metal Substrate PCB (in short: IMS PCB), wherein instead of a usual base material a metal, such as aluminum, can be used as a carrier for said copper layer. For example, the insulated metal substrate can be used for the thermal management of a power electronic circuit mounted on the IMS PCB.